Your View: To New Bedford students — We believe in you

By Justin Braga

Friday

Sep 23, 2016 at 2:01 AM

With school back in session, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer commendation, advice, and warm wishes to the students of New Bedford Public Schools. Whether you have excelled or struggled in previous years, the new academic year offers an opportunity for you to start anew, make adjustments, and succeed. I know many adults have probably told you that, and I don’t want this piece to be merely a restatement of encouragement you may have received in previous years. Rather, I’d like to offer insight as someone who attended New Bedford Public Schools from kindergarten until graduating from New Bedford High School in 2012.

I believe you are role models for the next generation of New Bedford students. Some of you have faced challenges that people in some communities never encounter, such as poverty, homelessness, crime and violence in your neighborhood, and the difficulty of not having someone in your life to tell you how important it is to obtain an education. Despite these and other challenges, you’ve persevered. You’ve made the conscious decision to reject the empty promises of the street in favor of staying in school, working hard in your classes, and graduating from high school. The alumni of New Bedford Public Schools are incredibly proud of what you do every day to better your own life and give back to the community.

You have the ability to write the next chapter in the history of New Bedford Public Schools with what you do in school every day. There is no one “face” of your school, and there is no one definition of “success.” For some of you, success will be defined as graduating from high school and attending the college of your choice or obtaining the skills necessary to join the workforce. For others, success will be defined as being the first in their family to graduate from high school. Whatever your definition of success may be, by attending school, applying yourself in your classes, and participating in extracurricular activities, as well as learning from and respecting your teachers, you have the capacity to effect positive change in your school and your city. As a kid from New Bedford attending New Bedford Public Schools, you can succeed, and there are plenty of people in this community who will help you.

When you graduate from high school and embark on the next part of your life, you’ll understand fully the value of a New Bedford education. You’ve had the opportunity to grow up in a diverse community and interact with people of various backgrounds. Diversity, inclusiveness, tolerance, and service to the community aren’t exclusively our generation’s values; they’re New Bedford values. You’ll find that growing up in a community that embraces these ideals will be advantageous in college, in the workforce, and in your adult life. Your ability to comprehend and relate your own personal experiences to those faced by others will be an asset as a young adult. You’ll be able to appreciate the value of a hard-earned dollar, because you will have grown up in a working-class community, and it is possible you had to juggle working a part-time job while being a student. You’ll understand the importance of embracing diversity and being able to entertain different ideas and perspectives. And most importantly, you’ll possess an unwavering compassion for those who have less than you, because you’ll recall your own obstacles or the struggles of those around you. These aspects of a New Bedford education are inseparable from what you learn in the classroom, and they will benefit you for the rest of your life.

On behalf of the members of the New Bedford High School Young Alumni Association, I’d like to wish all students in New Bedford Public Schools an engaging and successful school year. Our organization stands ready to serve you in a variety of ways. Whether you are applying to college or a job, have questions about career pathways, or if you need advice from someone who walked in your shoes just a few years ago, the NBHS Young Alumni Association is here to assist you.

Please feel free to e-mail us at nbhsyoungalumni@gmail.com, and please visit our website (www.nbhsyoungalumni.org) for more information. We believe in you, we’ve got your back, and we can’t wait for you to join the ranks of New Bedford High School alumni in the near future.

Justin Braga is the co-chair of the NBHS Young Alumni Association. He graduated from New Bedford High School in 2012 and from Brown University in 2016. He is currently pursuing a J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

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